Facing Fear
by BubblyShell22
Summary: One-shot. Leonardo has always had a secret fear of heights, but what happens when his family discovers his secret?


Facing Fear

A/N: I was just watching Tales of Leo on Saturday, and this little bunny came to mind. I thought about going a little bit more in detail about how Leo faced his fear of heights that day and what happened before that. I really hope that you enjoy this story. Feel free to leave a review after you've finished reading.

Summary: Leonardo has always had a secret fear of heights, but what happens when his family discovers this secret?

Disclaimer: I don't own the TMNT. They're owned by Mirage.

Leonardo awoke with a start from the horrible nightmare. Once again, he had dreamed that he was falling from a very high place. He wasn't quite sure why he had the bad dream or what it meant. All he knew was that it frightened him. He could have gone to Master Splinter to tell him about it, but that would be foolish. He wanted to be brave since he was the oldest of his brothers. He believed that if he showed any weakness, his brothers would tease him and call him a baby. He didn't want to be called a baby like Mikey. Michelangelo was always afraid of everything and was often teased by his brothers, including Leo. If Leo told them of his fear he'd never live it down.

No, he'd just have to deal with it on his own. That was the best thing to do. He took a few deep breaths and calmed himself down. That was the best thing to do. After feeling calmer than before, Leo went back to sleep, hoping that the dream wouldn't come to him again.

The next day, things progressed normally. The Turtles and Splinter ate breakfast and then went to the dojo for practice. They began with some meditation exercises and then some warm-up katas. After this was done, Splinter set about teaching his young students some new maneuvers and watched as they repeated his movements. Leo was determined to learn them quickly, and he did just that. Of all of the Turtles, Leonardo was the one who learned the quickest and could do moves fairly quickly after Splinter would demonstrate them. This was met with jealousy from his other brothers (Raphael in particular).

After learning the new moves, the Turtles were put into pairs for sparring. Donatello was paired with Michelangelo while Leonardo was paired with Raphael. The red-clad Turtle didn't hide his disdain at the assignment, which caused Splinter to reprimand him. He decided to have Leonardo and Raphael spar first. The two Turtles bowed to one another and then began on Splinter's command.

The battle became quite heated as Raphael was outraged by the fact that Leonardo always knew moves before him and was even more upset over his brother's arrogance over it. This rage caused Raphael to lash out at Leo and to try to hurt him, though it never worked. Leo always countered every move Raph made, which made the red-clad Turtle even angrier than before. The session ended when Leo managed to trip Raph up, making him land on his shell. Splinter awarded the victory to Leo, which made the blue-clad Turtle smile at the praise his father gave him. Raph merely scowled when he heard it and refused Leo's help when his brother offered him a hand.

"I can get up myself," he said stubbornly.

Leo was a bit hurt by Raph's tone, but he decided to let his brother have his way. "Nice match," he said as he went to sit on the floor to watch Don and Mikey have their turn at sparring.

"Shut it," Raph growled. "You always think you're better than me."

"No, I don't," Leo protested. "I never think that at all, Raph. You're good, too. You just need a bit of practice."

"Yeah, whatever," Raph grumbled. He ignored Leo and focused on the match.

When the match was over, (Don won) Splinter sat his children down. "Well done, my sons," he said. "You are all progressing nicely, though some of us do need some work." His eyes rested on Michelangelo and Raphael. "Both of you need to remain focused on your opponent," he lectured. "Michelangelo, you let your mind wander too much, which hampers your movements. And, Raphael, you let your anger consume you and cause you to be distracted. Both of you must work on your focus. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Master Splinter," the two Turtles said.

"Good," Splinter said. "You are dismissed. You may go out and play."

The Turtles were now old enough to go out on their own, though Splinter always warned them to be careful and to not go where he had forbidden them to go. This was met with problems sometimes, but for the most part, the Turtles were good and always followed Splinter's advice. Now the Turtles headed out of the Lair to go play, running a race to see who could get to a certain point first. Leonardo ended up winning, much to his brothers' dismay.

"Man, Leo always wins," Mikey grumbled.

"Yeah, but that's because he's pretty fast," Don replied.

"Psh, that's nothing," Raph retorted. "I bet I can do something better." He spotted a pipe hanging high and bridging a section of the sewer. To get to the pipe, one had to climb some old bricks that had jutted out from the wall and looked a lot like stairs. Raph figured that he could walk across the pipe just like a tightrope walker at the circus. He had never been to a circus, but he had seen one on TV and knew that this was something he could try.

"Raph, don't do it," Leonardo admonished. "You might get hurt."

"I'll be fine," Raph reassured him. "It's a piece of cake." And with that, he began to climb the bricks and managed to make it to the pipe. Once there, he smiled in satisfaction and began to walk along the pipe just as he'd seen the tightrope walker walk the tightrope. His brothers watched him nervously, afraid that he would fall, but he didn't. Instead he made it to the end successfully and smiled in triumph. Then he walked back across and climbed down to the ground.

"See?" he gloated. "I told you I could do it. Now, let's see you guys try it."

"You're on," said Mikey. He climbed the bricks and also started to walk across the pipe, although he was a bit uncomfortable being so high up. Still, he didn't want Raph calling him a baby, so he put the thought out of his mind and finished the task. Once he was done, he let out a cheer at succeeding in his task. Raph couldn't call him a baby any longer since he had done a very brave thing.

"Ta-da!" he cried. "I did it, Raphie! Come and try it, Donnie. It's a lot of fun."

Donatello smiled and decided to take up the challenge, which was also met with success on his part. But before he went up, he told his brothers that if he fell, they had to patch him up. The other three promised, but there was no need for this as Donatello did a perfect job of walking the pipe.

"Wow!" he cried. "That was amazing! Now, it's your turn, Leo."

"Yeah, come and do it, Leo," Mikey urged. "I bet you can do it. You can do anything."

"Um, I don't think so, Mikey," Leo replied.

"Why not?" Raph demanded. "Are you scared?"

"No, I'm not scared," Leo answered. "I just don't feel like it right now. Maybe some other time."

"You're scared," Raph taunted. "Scaredy cat. Scaredy cat." Don and Mikey also took up the chant because they wanted Leo to do the task, too.

Leo didn't know what to do. The pipe was very high up, and he knew that if he lost his balance he'd fall off and possibly get hurt. His fear was too great, and he knew he couldn't do it. But he couldn't tell his brothers about his fear of heights. They'd just tease him about it and never let him live it down. He decided to distract his brothers by pretending to see something shiny. The distraction worked as the others asked where he had seen the shiny object, so he was able to lead them from the pipe into another part of the sewers.

Then the Turtles were called in to lunch and enjoyed a meal of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. After the meal was over, Splinter announced that he was going scavenging and asked his sons if they would like to come with him. He often let them come, since they were good at helping him find certain items that he couldn't often find. Besides, he would need someone else to help him carry things since he couldn't do so himself. Three of the Turtles declined. Donatello wanted to work on his project, Michelangelo wanted to color, and Raphael wanted to watch television.

"I'll go with you," Leonardo offered. He thought it would be a good idea to accompany his sensei on this journey.

"Very well," said Splinter. "The rest of you are to remain in the Lair and be good until we get home. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Sensei," the other three Turtles said.

"Good," Splinter told them. "We will be back soon." Then he set out with Leonardo beside him, both carrying bags to store their items in once they found them. Leo wasn't quite sure what Splinter was looking for, so he just picked up anything he could find, thinking that they'd find a use for it. The sewers were full of discarded things that the humans had decided to get rid of, though Leo couldn't understand why. Many of these things were in a pretty good condition. Splinter had explained to him that humans sometimes were dissatisfied by what they had and figured the best way to be rid of it was to throw it away. Leo was still puzzled by this, but he decided that it was a good thing because if the humans didn't throw things away, his family would never be able to live without all the things they had.

After gathering quite a few items on the lower levels, Splinter told Leonardo that there were useful items to find on the upper levels. They soon arrived at a ladder, which meant they'd have to climb. Leo looked up at where they had to go. It was awfully high up, and he couldn't believe that Splinter wanted him to go up there. Wasn't there a chance that they could fall? He had no time to ponder this as Splinter prompted him to climb up.

Leo obeyed, but as he climbed, his began to shake. He couldn't help looking down and seeing how high he was. He was going to fall and be swallowed by the darkness. This thought made him tremble even more. Splinter urged him to keep going, but Leo found that he couldn't and told Splinter so.

"Leonardo, you must," Splinter said to him.

Leo made an effort to climb another rung, but his hand slipped, and he lost the bag of items. He watched it fall down and knew he would soon follow. "No, no!" he whimpered. Then Splinter picked him up and set him on his back. Leo clung to his father, ashamed of what had happened. Not only had Splinter discovered his secret, but he had also lost the bag of items they needed to survive.

"I'm sorry, Master Splinter," Leo whimpered. "I'm so sorry."

"It is all right, my son," Splinter said tenderly. "I can go back and get the bag." They continued scavenging for a little longer and then headed home right after Splinter retrieved the bag that had fallen from the ladder.

Leonardo retreated to his room in shame. He knew that Splinter would tell his brothers what happened, and his brothers would end up teasing him about his fear. They'd call him a scaredy cat and would tell him that he couldn't do anything right. He buried his face in his pillow and cried, unable to bear the thoughts that plagued his mind.

The next day, Splinter called Leonardo into the dojo and said that he had a special lesson planned just for him. Leo was curious to see what Splinter was going to teach him and came into the dojo. His brothers stood framed in the doorway, also curious about what was going on.

"How come Leo gets a special lesson and we don't?" Raph asked.

Splinter smiled. "Because I want to see if he can master this first," he replied. "Once Leonardo has mastered this lesson, I will ask each of you to do so as well. Perhaps Leonardo will assist me in teaching you this lesson."

Raph, Don, and Mikey weren't happy about it, but they knew it did no good to argue. The three of them decided to leave the two alone and went on to amuse themselves as they liked.

"What's the lesson, Sensei?" Leo asked excitedly.

"This lesson has to do with balance," Splinter replied. "It is very important for a ninja to be able to maintain balance." He pointed to a row of small bamboo poles that were situated in the middle of the dojo. "I would like to see if you can jump from one pole to the next while performing a few katas. Can you do that?"

Leo nodded. "I think so," he said. He got up on the first pole, performed a kick, and jumped to the second pole while also performing the kick. This went on until he had jumped all of the poles.

"Well done, Leonardo," Splinter praised him. "Now, let us see if you can do it blindfolded." He tied a blindfold around his son's head, covering his eyes completely then guided him to the first pole. At first, it seemed difficult, but Leonardo managed to complete the task.

"Excellent job," Splinter praised. "That is all for today. We will do more tomorrow."

Leo felt a bit disappointed, but he knew it wouldn't be a good idea to complain. Instead, he left the dojo in a state of excitement and tried to relate to his brothers what he had accomplished. His brothers remained indifferent about it, engrossed in their own tasks. Frustrated, Leonardo left to go to his room. Why weren't his brothers happy about what he'd done? He had mastered a very difficult lesson, something that he knew his brothers probably couldn't do. Oh well, at least he could take comfort that Splinter noticed his success.

In the days that followed, Splinter and Leonardo continued their special lessons in the afternoons. Leo was getting better and better at mastering the lesson, and his confidence was growing. One day, he finished the task and felt very pleased with himself. That was easy!

"Now, my son, remove your blindfold," Splinter instructed.

Leo did as he was asked and then realized how high up he was. He began to teeter and tried to regain his balance, but it didn't work. He fell off with a cry until he landed in a hammock that Splinter had placed there in case he should fall. He looked up at his father, ashamed at what had happened. He hadn't mastered his fear, and he was beginning to think he never would. He was a coward, not a ninja. Ninjas weren't afraid of anything, and he knew that as long as he had this fear, he could never be a ninja.

The next day, Splinter decided to take Leo out again for a walk. Leo was excited about this because he loved spending time with his father. After bidding the others goodbye (and warning them to be good), the pair set off on their walk. After a little while, Splinter felt it was time to go home and led his son to a drainage junction. He began to climb a pipe and told his son that it was a shortcut home.

Leo was scared, He remembered the pipe that Raph and the others had walked across. While this pipe had to be climbed, he knew he couldn't do it. "You go ahead, Master Splinter," he replied. "I'll go around by the long way."

"That could take hours, my son," Splinter told him.

"That's okay," Leo said. "I could use the exercise." He watched as his father continued to climb the pipe. Suddenly, the pipe gave way, and Splinter was hanging on by a strip of his kimono.

"Master Splinter!" Leo cried. "Oh no!" What was he going to do? He could see his father's kimono beginning to tear. He had to save him. He jumped onto a pipe that was above him and looked down. He whimpered a little about being so high, but he remembered what he needed to do. Closing his eyes, he kept telling himself not to look down and inched his way along the pipe until he came to his father's side. Then he urged his father to grab hold of him. Splinter did so and slid onto the pipe with his son. But the pipe couldn't hold their weight and began to fall.

"We'll never make it back in time!" Leo cried fearfully.

"Then we must forge ahead, my son," Splinter told him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a grappling hook. He swung the rope a few times and attached it to a pipe. Then he placed Leo on his back and swung them to safety.

Leo was a bit puzzled. "But you could have saved yourself at any time," he remarked. Why hadn't Splinter produced the grappling hook to save himself?

"And you would still be consumed by your fear," Splinter explained. "By focusing on the task at hand, you are able to clear your mind of all distractions." He patted his son's head to show that he was proud of him.

Leonardo was also proud of himself for conquering his fear, but he still had one misgiving. "Um, Sensei, you won't tell the others about my fear of heights, will you?" he asked.

Splinter smiled gently at his son. "No, I will not," he said. "It will be our secret." And for a long time, Splinter kept his word and said nothing to the others.

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Leonardo woke up from yet another nightmare. This one was different from the one he'd had as a child. That nightmare had been about falling from a great height, while this nightmare was about the Foot Ninjas chasing him as they attacked him. When was it going to end?

Ever since Leo had woken up from his unconscious state, he'd had nightmares about the day he'd been ambushed. And every night, someone had been there to reassure him he was safe. Usually it was Raphael who came to comfort him, but this time it was his sensei who entered the room.

"Another nightmare, my son?" Splinter asked him.

Leo sighed. "Yeah," he replied. "I don't know what else to do. You've told me to ignore the fear, but I can't. I guess I'm not fearless after all."

"No one is truly fearless, Leonardo," Splinter told him. "Even Raphael has a fear that was presented while you were unconscious."

"What fear was that?" Leo asked.

"The fear of losing you," Splinter answered. "No matter how he tries to hide it, your brother cares for you a great deal. He has a false idea of you being fearless when he should know that no one is truly fearless. He was quite surprised when I told him about your fear of heights."

Leo was a bit astonished at this. "You told them?" he asked, hurt etched into his face. "You said you'd never tell them about it."

"I had to tell the story to motivate you to come back," Splinter explained. "I figured that if I reminded you of a time where you conquered your fear of heights, you would be able to conquer the fear of your defeat. As you know, it worked."

"Yeah, it did," Leo mused. "So, how did they take it?"

"They were shocked at first, but I believe they have accepted it," Splinter told him.

Leo smiled. "Even Raph?" he inquired. He had expected his hotheaded brother to tease him about it and call him names.

Splinter chuckled. "Yes, even Raphael," he said. "He even told me the story of how he tried to get you to walk that pipe and how you refused. Now he knows why and understands. I believe he is sorry he ever said anything like that to you."

"Yeah, that sounds like Raph," Leo said. "You know what, Sensei? I'm lucky to have you guys as my family. I know that with you by my side, I can face any fear I have. I think that's why I really got over my fear of heights. You helped me and guided me, and I know that all of you will help me get through this again."

"You got it, bro," a voice said. Leo and Splinter turned to see the other three Turtles as well as April and Casey framed in the doorway.

"What are you guys doing up?" Leo asked them.

"We couldn't sleep," Donatello replied. "Look, Leo, we know you once had a fear, and we're okay with that. I think we all have fears that we need to overcome. Sometimes it's easy, and sometimes it isn't. But as long as we have someone to support us, we can conquer that fear. That's what you've shown us."

"Yeah, and now Raphie can conquer his fear of bugs," Mikey teased.

Raph glared at the youngest Turtle. "I am not afraid of bugs, shell for brains," he growled.

"C'mon, Raph, admitting your problem is the first step toward solving it," Don joked.

"Don't worry, Raph," Leo said. "If you need help, I'm here for you."

"Yeah, whatever," Raph said. "The point is, you got over your fear, and you can do it again. I know you can. We've got your back, Leo. I hope you realize that. And I'm sorry for calling you a scaredy cat when we were little. It was stupid of me to do that. You forgive me?"

Leo smiled at his red-clad brother. "Of course I do," he replied. "So, I'm guessing you guys want to stay with me until I fall asleep, right?"

"If we're invited," April said.

"Sure, the more the merrier," Leo told her.

With that invitation, the Turtles, April, and Casey settled down around Leo and talked of different things until they were too tired to do so. Leo felt comforted by his family and friends and knew that he'd be able to face any fear as long as he was with them. Nothing would stop him as long as he was with them. They'd end up showing the Foot who was boss and that if the Foot messed with one of them, they messed with all of them. With this last thought in his head, Leo fell asleep.

A/N: So, what did you think? I've always wondered why Leo was afraid of heights, which prompted me to write this. I hope you enjoyed this story. Feel free to leave me a review once you've finished reading. Have a shell-tastic day.


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